Public urged not to lose sight of govt. corruption, while being preoccupied with security

May 15, 2019, 9:02 pm

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government and civil society had to assist the security forces to ensure national security, but the public should also keep an eye on the progress made in corruption investigations, Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) Executive Director; Manas Ahmed said, addressing a meeting at CAFFE Headquarters.

The organisation will start a five-month anti-corruption awareness programme later this month and yesterday’s event was a planning session with stakeholders.

"The primary responsibility of the government is to make people feel safe. We must respect that but there are signs that the government is using this to carry out corrupt activities," he said.

Executive Director of Centre for Human Rights (CHR) Surangi Ariyawansha said that the Minister of Education had passed a cabinet paper to purchase a large number of tablet computers in early May. "What’s the hurry to do this? Students aren’t coming to schools although they have been open for 10 days now. Because we are all focused on security this kind of deals go unnoticed. That’s why we must not let the government use our focus on national security to engage in corruption," She said.